Marker for rosary



y 24, 1960 F. w. BELFIELD 2,937,459

MARKER FOR ROSARY Filed Oct. 1, 1957 United States Patent MARKER FOR ROSARY Frederick Walter Belfield, 2131 Hulmsville Road, Cornwell Heights, Pa.

Filed Oct. 1, 1957, Ser. No. 687,533

2 Claims. (CI. 35-23) This invention relates to an improved, detachable marker adapted to engage with any selected portion of an endless element, or a closed circle.

More specifically, the invention relates to a device which is detachably engageable with any desired portion of a rosary or similar device to mark any given station.

The beads of a rosary must be told in a given sequence or continuity and it often happens that this devotional exercise is interrupted by some mundane things such as ringing of the door bell, the ringing of a telephone or the unannounced visit of a neighbor. When such interruptions take place, it is necessary, or at least desirable, that the votary remember at which station the interruption took place so that, when the exercise is resumed, the telling of the beads can be taken up at the point at which the interruption took place.

It is, therefore, the main object of this invention to produce a marker which can be detachably applied to, and removed from, any station on the rosary, and which, under normal conditions of handling, will not be displaced or fall off.

A further object of this invention is to produce an improved marker through which the beads can be successively passed with gentle pressure.

A still further object is to produce an improved marker which is inexpensive to make and which can readily be made of difierent sizes and in different colors to fit rosaries of different sizes and different colors.

The full nature of this invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic representation of a rosary, only a portion of which is shown in solid lines with the marker of the invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the marker shown detached.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view looking in the direction of line 3--3 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 4-4 on Fig. 3 showing a bead about to be passed through the marker.

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4 but shows a head in the act of being passed through the marker.

A conventional rosary includes a chain or other flexible element on which the beads 12 are fixedly mounted in the ordained order. Since the use of a rosary is a devotional exercise, and since the number of the beads and the order in which they are arranged and the supplications to which they are assigned form no part of the invention, it is thought unnecessary to describe the Patented May 24, 1960 same in detail. It is suflicient to say that the telling of the rosary takes time and that, under present day living conditions, the telling of the rosary is frequently interrupted. Even without interruption, a person engaged in this spiritual undertaking may well become so absorbed as to forget to pass from one bead to the next.

In order to help the person using the rosary to remember to pass from one bead to the next as the recital of the various prayers proceeds, and in order to mark the point at which the telling of the beads was interrupted, I provide the improved marker of my invention which includes a generally cylindrical hollow body 14 which is made of rubber or other slightly flexible or resilient material which can be inexpensively made. Cylindrical body 14 is slit as at 16 so that, by slightly separating the ends of the body, the relatively thin chain or flexible element 10 may be inserted in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, into the interior of cylindrical body 10. The interior of the marker is obstructed by four webs 18, 19, 20 and 21, which extend radially inwardly toward the center of the body 10 of the marker and are separated from each other by slits 22. Webs. 18, 19, 20 and 21 taper toward their inner ends to increase their flexibility and their inner edges are curved, as at 24, to form a round opening, the diameter of which is slightly smaller than the diameter of beads 12. If desired, one edge of cylindrical body 10 is scalloped as at 26, or provided with some other identification to indicate that the beads are to be passed through the marker. As illustrated the beads are passed from right to left as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5.

In use, the marker is applied to the rosary in the manner described in connection with Fig. 3 and the penitent proceeds to say the prayer to which the bead immediately to the right of the marker, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5, is assigned. When this particular prayer has been said, the bead referred to is pushed through the central opening of the marker and the next prayer is said and so on. In the event of interruption, the marker will indicate the prayer which has been said and the prayer which is to be said next. When the marker reaches one side of medallion 28, it is removed and reapplied to element 10 immediately to the other side of the medallion. If desired, the marker may also be applied to the relatively short extension leading from medallion 28 to the cross.

What I claim is:

1. A marker for a rosary, said marker including a hollow body formed of resilient material, spaced flexible webs formed integrally with and extending radially inwardly from, the inner wall of said body, said webs terminating short of the center of said body and their ends defining an opening through which a bead may pass upon distortion of at least one of said webs.

2. The structure recited in claim '1 in which said body has an axial slit leading from the exterior of said body to said opening whereby the marker is applied to an endless rosary.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 620,238 Garrigan Feb. 28, 1899 1,567,021 Detlefsen Dec. 22, 1925 1,832,239 Pedersen Nov. 17, 1931 1,853,901 Johnson Apr. 12, 1932 2,875,605 Hochman Mar. 3, 1959 

